I'm back in the land of the Joshua Trees! I'm camping at the Chief Mountain West Trailhead in Caliente, Nevada. I had a great time fossil hunting today. We went to the Oak Springs Trilobite Site where I found three nice Trilobite fossils that are 500 million years old!
Photo Description:
1) This area is dominated by Joshua Trees (Yucca brevifolia).
2) This is our campsite at the trailhead.
3) I see so many Joshua trees along the trail. I'm intrigued by the different shapes of the Joshua Trees.
4) These silver cholla (Cylindropuntia echinocarpa) also dominate the landscape here. You have to be careful around these things. They drop little balls of barbed needles that will ruin your day if you step on one.
5) I took this photo on the hike to the Oak Springs Trilobite Site. Trilobites are tiny creatures that lived at the bottom of the ocean. They became extinct 500 million years ago, but their fossilized remains can be found here because this landscape was once at the bottom of an ancient sea.
6) To find the fossils you have to sort through piles of these shale stones. I did lots of bending and stretching exercises while I was searching.
7, 8 & 9) These are the Trilobite (Olenellus) fossils I found. They were sitting there for 500,000,000 years, until today when I picked them up. Now they're riding in the camper with me. 🙂 ⏳
